


Where Shadows Dwell

by teamJNPR



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, College/University, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, Some Fluff, Some angst, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-15 04:18:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16926384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teamJNPR/pseuds/teamJNPR
Summary: When they used to draw pictures together, hiding from Shadow Weaver and pretending to be superheroes, Adora and Catra thought that would be their future.Now they’re separated and Adora is going to attend Bright-Moon University, pretending to be a grade-A popular student while inside she crumbles under the weight of being She-Ra. But when she arrives in her dorm, a familiar face is waiting, and she has secrets of her own.





	Where Shadows Dwell

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, say hello to my new She-Ra fic. I haven’t written anything outside the Vocaloid fandom properly, so please bear with me if characters are a little OOC. I’ll do my best to keep them as canon-personality faithful as possible even if this is an AU.
> 
> This is me testing the waters. I'm not a planner as such, but I have an end goal in mind and where I want relationships to go along with basic idea of the plot.
> 
> I’m more than welcoming to any feedback you may have! Please leave a comment telling me what you think! Other than that, please enjoy what I’ve written!

Every time she saw a shadow in the darkness of night, Adora was reminded of her.

The marks Shadow Weaver had left on her mind weren’t as easy to get rid of as she had hoped. And there was still part of her that didn’t want to get rid of it at all.

Adora rolled over and faced the wall. There were pictures up there, all of her, Bow, and Glimmer. Bow had put them all together so they resembled a heart. Even after all these months, some nights she still couldn’t sleep alone. Most times she went to find Glimmer, just to curl up on the end of her too-soft bed and hear a couple of “five more minutes,” in her sleep.

But tonight was different.

Tonight she was thinking of Catra.

Adora’s hands curled into fists. She still hadn’t found her, and the more time that passed, the less likely she knew it would be that she could find her.

She wondered if Catra was thinking about her too, wherever she was being kept.

Adora sighed and rolled back over to the other side of the bed. She cycled through that for a couple of minutes before giving up the dream of sleep and sitting up, her eyes travelling over to the faint blue glow that had become so familiar.

Maybe tonight… maybe this would be the night. She couldn’t give up. Not even after failing her friend so miserably for so much time.

Adora eased out the paper from under her mattress, staring deeply into the plans she'd made. There'd been so many places she'd already searched, even close to their past home, but she'd pulled up nothing.

Tracing her finger across the map brought her a little comfort. She had plans. She could do this.

Silently tying the fabric around her sword, Adora covered up the glow and strapped it to her back. She moved through the house, dodging where the floor creaked and the step that always groaned under anybody’s weight, and set off into the night.

* * *

 

It was only a short walk out of the Bright-Moon estate and into Etheria city. Still, the way was lined with looming trees, and bloated clouds overhead blotted out the moon. It was a well worn path that Adora was going to take, but she remembered finding the woods confusing when she’d been adopted into Angella‘s family, so Glimmer and Bow had taken to exploring them with her. Showing Adora shortcuts, fun places to play games, and even to relax. That last part Adora still hadn’t gotten the hang of yet.

As she was halfway down the path, there was a light in front of her, and Adora would’ve pulled out her sword had it not been for the familiar pink sparkle.

Glimmer shimmered into view in front of Adora with a grin on her face.

‘So, what’s the plan?’

‘Glimmer,’ Adora sighed, but felt a smile slip on to her face. ‘You weren’t supposed to notice I was gone.’

‘Well, I did, so now we’re totally going out for a midnight walk. I guess it’s like our first experience of freedom before we go to university in a couple of days.’ Glimmer said, falling into step with Adora. Right, Adora had kind of forgotten that was going to be a thing. ‘Why’d you bring your sword, anyway?’

Adora looked down at her feet. She hadn’t gone into much, if any, detail about Catra. Or Shadow Weaver. Or any of her life before in general. Her friends had never tried to pry and for that Adora was grateful, but it also led to situations like this. It wasn’t that she meant to keep secrets, it was just… maybe a little painful for her to talk about right then.

‘It’s not safe at night,’ she said lamely.

Glimmer frowned. ‘We’re in my mom’s estate, Adora. Unless you’re planning on going to the city, which now I can definitely see that you are.’

‘Surprise?’ Adora tried to make light of it, and thankfully, Glimmer’s eyes lit up.

‘Oh this is going to be cool. Bow’s going to be so jealous – wait, should we find Bow?’

They ended up by his house after a shortcut through the woods, and after Glimmer teleported a sleepy, sputtering Bow outside, they went on their way. His bow and arrows were covered inside a duffel bag, and he was not happy at the situation. Adora smiled briefly at her friend’s antics, but all she could really focus on was Catra.

Maybe it was stupid to think that she’d be in Etheria. Maybe Shadow Weaver had taken her somewhere outside the city, or even outside the country. Though Adora also knew that Shadow Weaver had her own allegiances to the Horde supervillain alliance.

But if Catra had escaped…

Suddenly, she was jolted out of her thoughts by Bow’s arm slinging across her shoulder. He’d caught Glimmer too, and had squashed them both into a side-hug.

‘Best friend squad out on the town!’

‘Bow, shh!’ Glimmer said. ‘If your parents hear us they’ll freak. And I do not want to explain to my mom why we were all out in the middle of the night.’

‘Which, by the way, Adora, why _are_ we out here in the middle of the night?’

Adora looked away from his eyes. ‘I had a lot on my mind.’

Which was an easy, selfish way of getting out of it, but from the looks on Bow and Glimmer’s faces, they understood.

She didn’t really deserve such good friends.

Rubbing her face, Adora carried on.

* * *

 

Etheria city was bustling even at the late hour they arrived. Lights careened over the steel and glass, throwing themselves up into the night air to create a halo of bright pollution. The trio came in at the Mystacor quarter, one of the safer ones and a haven for artists in particular. But that wasn’t why Adora was here. No.

She needed to go to the Fright Zone quarter.

She knew the way like it was the back of her hand. The perfect backstreets to go unnoticed, so she didn't get stopped by anyone asking about her sword, or worse, looking for a fight. Adora could handle it, but Glimmer and Bow couldn't exactly fight without bringing attention to themselves and their powers.

And every fight in Etheria was bound to get recorded by someone. And like Glimmer said, she definitely couldn’t have Angella finding out about this.

‘Adora?’ Glimmer looked about, her eyes sparkling at the nightlife. ‘Can you please tell us where we're going? I trust you know what you're doing, but we're getting kind of close to the Fright Zone.’

‘It looks… shady,’ Bow said. ‘I mean, it's called the Fright Zone, but wow, they really lived up to the name.’

Adora stopped as they came into an alleyway, leaning against the wall. A little light from the street beyond filtered in, but not enough to make it comforting. At least the cool bricks behind her brought some clarity to her head. Shadows loomed across every surface.

Glimmer and Bow stood opposite her, with Bow glancing this way and that to make sure they were safe.

‘I told you guys a little about what happened. The basics, anyway, ‘ Adora said.

‘Is this about Catra?’ Glimmer said gently, and Adora nodded. ‘Adora… are you trying to find her?’

She nodded again, feeling guilt bubble up inside of her. ‘I'm sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you both out here without knowing what was going on. I could've gotten you hurt.’

‘Hey,’ Bow said, a smile lighting up his features. ‘We came here because we wanted to. We trust you.’

‘Yeah, and we couldn't let you have all the fun,’ Glimmer beamed.

Some of the tension left Adora’s shoulders.

‘Thanks guys. Just be on the lookout for anything suspicious. We're in the Fright Zone, after all.’

The weight of her sword on her back was reassuring, a reminder that she could protect her friends.

Adora wished she'd discovered it earlier.

Then maybe…

Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them away. Not now. She still had a chance to find Catra.

She could find Catra, and then all the pain could be set aside. They could be together again, like they always should've been.

_Adora…_

As she rounded the corner, a voice whispered in her ear. Adora swung round, hand grasping for her sword.

‘Woah, what's up?’ Bow said.

‘I thought I heard – oh, it's nothing. Let's keep going.’

‘If you say so,’ Glimmer said, frowning slightly, but she let it go as they crossed the road.

Now they were truly in the shady part of the city. Starting as an industrial hub, business soon left and husks of buildings remained. Though not the modern haven of most of Etheria, the Fright Zone still had tech based supervillains hiding out here. Only rumours, of course, nothing that the Superhero Alliance could do anything about. Not that they would, even if they could be bothered leaving the apparent safety of their respective quarters. Adora felt her hands curl up into fists.

But Adora knew it was more than just rumours. She'd lived here, after all.

For a split-second, Adora heard a cough that was cut off before it could truly begin. She looked at Glimmer and Bow, who nodded at her. Adora grabbed her sword, levelling it in front of her.

Out of the darkness came two familiar faces.

‘Lonnie? Kyle?’ Adora gasped. She was about to drop her sword, ready to run over to them, but then she noticed their weapons.

And they were aiming at her.

‘Following around the Bright-Moons now, huh?’ Lonnie said, appearing to inspect her weapon. She turned to Kyle. ‘We would've had the element of surprise if you hadn't been an idiot.’

‘Sorry,’ Kyle murmured. ‘Hi, Adora.’

Lonnie scowled, leaving Kyle looking sheepish. ‘What're you carrying there, Adora?’ She placed emphasis on her name, dragging it out.

Adora’s eyes were wide. Did – did they see her as some sort of… traitor?

_That's because you are_ , said a little voice. _You left them. All you cared about was Catra._

Adora swallowed, staring at her sword. She looked back up at Lonnie, who was glaring at her with fire in her eyes. Kyle was giving off nerves and guilt in waves, shuffling his feet and hands, never quite meeting Adora’s eyes.

Lonnie lunged forward, but Adora moved swiftly to the side. As Glimmer summoned up sparkling energy, Adora held her sword aloft, the fabric ripping apart as she yelled.

‘For the honor of Grayskull!’

Nothing happened. The blue reflection in the stone setting glinted lamely at her. Adora’s eyes widened, and she struggled back as Lonnie sent a blast of energy from her weapon. Her sword clattered to the ground, and pain jolted through her as her body spasmed under the onslaught of electricity.

‘Adora!’ Bow and Glimmer cried at the same time. Bow swept into action, sending an arrow that expelled a barrage of smoke as Glimmer knelt by her.

Bow ran over, holding on to Glimmer as she strained to teleport all three of them away to a safe distance.

‘What do we do?’ Glimmer whispered. She had beads of sweat on her forehead, and Adora shivered, still feeling the after-effects of Lonnie’s weapon.

Lonnie, who had hit her.

Lonnie, who was her friend.

Wasn’t she?

‘I have to find out why they’re attacking me.’

‘They’re attacking _us,’_ Bow corrected. ‘Adora, they’re with the Horde. They’re _supervillains.’_

‘But they know me,’ Adora said. ‘They know I was trying to protect Catra.’

‘It doesn’t look that way to me,’ Bow said. ‘I think they’re really trying to hurt you.’

‘Too right we are,’ Lonnie said, from the bottom of the alleyway Glimmer had teleported them into. ‘You’re all an enemy of the Horde to me.’

A dora stood up. ‘Lonnie. I’m just trying to find Catra.  I just want to help. ’

‘What, her? You think I care about what you’re trying to do when you turned your back on us?’

‘I was trying to save her!’ The words were out before she could stop them. _Because,_ the little voice whispered in her ear, _you didn’t care about them._

Adora glanced from side to side. Nothing.

‘Yeah, well, I don’t believe you,’ Lonnie said. ‘It’s not like anyone’s seen Shadow Weaver and your little cat since you drove them both away.’

‘Please, Lonnie. Just let my friends go. I’ll fight you, if that’s what you really want.’

‘We’re not just going to leave you, Adora,’ Glimmer started, but Adora shook her head as Lonnie advanced.

‘I can handle this. I can’t let you and Bow get hurt.’

‘Turn your back so easily, huh,’ Lonnie said. Adora felt herself settle into a battle stance.

But Bow and Glimmer weren’t leaving. Suddenly, Lonnie pounced, leaving a distraught Kyle to get caught in one of Bow’s arrows by his shirt. While he was stuck in the wall, Lonnie swung a fist at Adora. But Adora had always been faster, stronger, and deflected with a punch of her own. As Lonnie fell back, Glimmer threw a sparkling ball of energy at her.

Lonnie stayed down, groaning.

‘Come on, let’s go, quick,’ Adora said. ‘No teleporting, Glimmer, just go.’

* * *

 

The way back felt like an age, after a sprint away to somewhere safe and hidden. With Bow and Glimmer doing their best to try and cheer her up on the walk back afterwards, Adora held on to every scrap of kindness they gave like it was a drug.

Thankfully, Bow was able to get back in his room without incident. Unfortunately, as Glimmer and Adora finally teleported back into Glimmer’s room, Angella was waiting. Adora should’ve known if Glimmer was involved, nothing was going to slip past her mother.

‘Mom, what are you doing in my room?’ Glimmer said. Angella just crossed her arms.

‘I’m assuming this was your idea – to go out into Etheria, I presume?’

Glimmer was about to open her mouth, probably to defend both herself and Adora. But Adora was exhausted. She couldn’t stand another argument. And Glimmer didn’t deserve this.

‘Please, Angella, it was my idea.’

Angella’s gaze fell upon her, and Adora’s head dipped slightly in automatic respect.

‘No – Adora,’ Glimmer started, but Adora shook her head.

‘Glimmer, it’s okay. You should know,’ she said, raising her chin up slightly and finally meeting Angella’s composed gaze, ‘I was the one who got her involved. I wanted – I mean, I needed, to go and find Catra.

Angella realised what that meant immediately. ‘You took my daughter to the Fright Zone? Or worse?’ She turned to Glimmer. ‘You went with her?’

‘Mom, please, you don’t know what this means-’

‘Adora, with me, if you would. Glimmer, we’ll talk later. Our conversation isn’t over.’

Adora swallowed down unnecessary fear. Angella wasn’t Shadow Weaver.

She wasn’t Shadow Weaver. There was no pain and hurt and fear for herself and especially for Catra.

Catra.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a second before following Angella downstairs.

Her adoptive mother was preparing tea in the kitchen in what looked to be her own little ritual. Adora didn’t want to disturb her, so sat down on the purple cushioned stool by the counter. Pale pink light from the encroaching dawn fell upon the room in a warm haze, lighting up the lilac cupboards and reflecting slightly on the tea Angella was pouring into cups. The scent of jasmine filled the air as she placed one cup in front of Adora, and one in front of herself. She stayed standing as Adora took a sip.

‘I always found jasmine tea to be calming. I learnt to make it myself. I haven’t managed to get Glimmer to drink it yet, however,’ Angella spoke softly, holding her teacup with a quiet reverence.

‘It’s lovely,’ Adora said genuinely. Angella smiled, and Adora was left wondering when exactly that smile would fade.

‘It was irresponsible for you to go out in such a way,’ Angella continued, but the kind smile didn’t disappear. There was a sternness to her stare, though. She set down the cup. ‘I know you’ve been going out, and I apologise for not interrupting sooner. I thought it best to let you run your course. But Glimmer… it’s not safe for her to be out there.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Adora said quietly. ‘I thought we might have a better chance of finding her if we were together. It was selfish of me to not send her home.’

‘She’s stubborn. She would not have come back easily,’ Angella said. She sighed. ‘Drink your tea and head to bed. There’s still a few hours before we have to be up, all packed and ready.’

Adora nodded, feeling a little strange as she went back upstairs. Not being reprimanded, or at least not being reprimanded in the same way, had left her out of sorts.

There was still a lot to get used to. Hopefully one day, she could find Catra and they could discover this life together. Especially with university just around the corner.

As she lay in bed, unable to sleep, Adora wondered how differently things would’ve gone if she and Catra had been given a normal life.

* * *

 

‘Alright, alright!’ Glimmer said, exasperated. ‘I get it, Adora.’

‘Are you sure? I can go over the plans again if you need me to-’

‘No, no, I’m sure we’ll be fine.’

‘Actually,’ Bow said, ‘if you could go through part 6B again – ow, Glimmer.’

Adora’s room was waylaid with diagrams and pictures. Strings adorned each piece, connecting potential threads. Post-its were tacked on to anything she had extra notes on. All of it was pinpointed towards one thing only – how to tackle university.

After seeing Lonnie and Kyle, Adora had focused all of her attention on this. She’d initially wanted to go out on her own and find a way to get a better grip on becoming She-Ra, but Angella had effectively banned any “finding herself and/or others by herself” kind of adventures with stern looks and her own special brand of quiet strength. Plus, Adora was still reeling a little from their interaction from the other day. It had been a few months since Adora had effectively been taken in by the Bright-Moons after her story had made national news, but she and Angella had rarely had time alone. Adora had always been with Glimmer.

She didn’t want to betray that extended hand of trust.

‘Okay, so what I’m getting here,’ Glimmer said, bringing Adora out of her thoughts, ‘is that first impressions are important.’

‘Well, yeah,’ Adora said. ‘But also-’

‘So what that means,’ Glimmer continued, ‘is that we need to look good.’

There was a slow smile beginning to creep on Bow and Glimmer’s faces as they looked at one another. Adora felt unnerved.

‘Which means...’ Bow said.

‘ _Makeover time!’_ they both shouted. 

Adora glanced at one, to the other, and back again. Glimmer teleported to her side, and grinned up at her.

‘Let’s get started, okay?’

‘I don’t, uh, what are we doing?’

‘Just follow our lead,’ Bow said. ‘Alright Glimmer, battle stations. You do makeup, I’ll do clothes. We’ll get Adora ready in no time.’

B ow immediately began looking through Adora’s wardrobe, pulling out this and that and pairing together outfits that Glimmer had picked out when they were finding clothes for Adora’s impending arrival. 

Glimmer, on the other hand, had already teleported to her room and back with her makeup case.

‘Alright, you just gotta relax. Trust me, when this is on, I think you could actually get anyone to drool at your feet.’

‘Ew,’ Adora said. ‘That’s sort of gross, Glimmer.’

Once she’d finished applying makeup, after a struggle with mascara and eyeliner, and basically anything that involved going near Adora’s face, Bow had picked out a suitable outfit. They left her to change, going to Glimmer’s room so they could do the same there.

Adora stared around her room, feeling strangely heavy. She had just a couple of boxes compared to Glimmer’s assorted mess of belongings.  She didn’t know, despite all her plans, what university was going to be like. Glimmer didn’t really know either, despite how long both of them had searched together with Bow on forums and so on.

Really, she wanted Catra with her.

That lazy,  projected confidence could do a lot.

She wasn’t sharing a dorm with Glimmer, and that made her nervous. She hadn’t been on her own around new people in… well, forever, really. Not since she’d met Glimmer and Bow.

How would they react? Would they stop her from sneaking out and going on her missions to find Catra? Would they judge her, knowing her background with the Horde?

Adora closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and squared her shoulders. 

She could do this.

* * *

 

After a tearful goodbye involving many, many hugs, and plenty of “yeah, I’ll call every night, mom, sure,” they were left to their own devices. Bow had to go to the dorms opposite, since it wasn’t co-ed, and Glimmer was in a different room, getting her stuff unpacked.

It felt small, smaller than when they’d seen it the first time, even though Adora had only two boxes.

There was a box next to hers, but the owner hadn’t introduced herself yet. Adora sat on the bed against the wall where her own boxes were with her sword lying on top, staring at the blank expanse in front of her. Maybe she could put those photos up. Bow had carefully taken them all down. She wasn’t sure she could put them together the same way he had, though.

Suddenly, the door banged open, and Adora whipped around to see who it was.

Two mismatched eyes met her own.

‘Hey, Adora.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
